Posted on 02/20/2008 12:33:34 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The first factor that needs to be put completely to one side is picture quality. Unless you are a technology geek with a television the size of a multiplex cinema screen, there is no difference between the output of HD DVD and Blu-ray machines. Both offer high definition DVD playback superior to standard DVD players. Where Sony had the killer edge is that its Playstation 3 (PS3) computer games console comes pre-fitted with a Blu-ray player. So as Sony has sold 10.5 million PS3 consoles since it was launched in late 2006, that is 10.5 million Blu-ray machines already in homes around the world, before you add sales of stand-alone Blu-ray players. By contrast, Toshiba has sold only one million HD DVD machines. Toshiba does have a tie-up with Microsoft's Xbox 360 games console, but Xbox users are required to buy an external HD DVD drive. And as Toshiba's one million sales figure for HD DVD machines also includes shipments of these drives, it appears that not many Xbox owners have been bothered to go to the additional expense.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Toshiba climbs on 'HD DVD exit'Shares in Toshiba have gained more than 5% as speculation intensified that the electronics giant is set to scrap its high definition DVD format, HD DVD... The format has suffered from the defection of major US film studios to Sony-backed rival Blu-ray. Analysts said that an end to the war meant Toshiba could refocus on other areas and the industry would gain too... Toshiba shares climbed 5.7% to close at 829 yen and was one of the biggest risers on Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 share index... "It doesn't make sense for Toshiba to continue putting effort into this," said Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments. "It needs to cut its losses and focus its resources on promising businesses." ...Some observers now predict increased competition among Blu-ray players leaving the consumer the ultimate winner... DVD players from South Korean firms LG and Samsung are the only two to play both rival high-definition DVD formats, but they can cost twice as much as single-format players.
BBC
Monday, February 18, 2008
Microsoft ‘backed the wrong horse’ in HD format match
Effect on console market uncertain
By TODD BISHOP
P-I REPORTER
Last updated February 19, 2008 8:29 p.m. PT
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/351871_msfthd20.html
PS3 Beat Out Xbox in January
Stephen Silver
February 19, 2008
http://www.dealerscope.com/story/story.bsp?sid=91303&var=story&publication=Dealerscope&publicationDate=2/19/08&slug=DSEnews5_021908_PS3January&category=None§ion=Unknown
Wii sales beating Xbox 360 and PS3
Nintendo console predicted to be most popular by end of 2008
Written by Simon Burns in Taipei
vnunet.com, 18 Feb 2008
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2209876/wii-sales-beating-xbox-360-ps3
Sony U.S. shares rise on PS3, Blu-ray optimism
Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:18am EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN1925691620080219
Microsoft hedged its bets. Since the HD-DVD was an optional external, I’m sure they could work out a Blu-Ray external.
Blu-Ray Xbox 360 likely to compete directly with PS3
By Jonathan Schlaffer
February 18, 2008
http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/02/18/blu-ray-xbox-360-likely-to-compete-directly-with-ps3/
Netflix wins all: Blu-ray vs HD-DVD vs Apple TV vs Unbox vs DVD
By Danny Mendez
February 18, 2008
http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2008/02/18/netflix-wins-all-blu-ray-vs-hd-dvd-vs-apple-tv-vs-unbox-vs-dvd/
Sony Might Have Gotten It Right with the PS3 from the Beginning
Softpedia | November 5th, 2007 | Filip Truta
Posted on 11/25/2007 1:38:14 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1930299/posts
I hope Sony tells them to screw.
Why would Sony ever allow a competing game company to use their Blu-Ray technology?
A crazy little thing called cash. :’) Of course, the reason the PS3 is outselling the Xbox is the BluRay; if that advantage is negated, it could be trouble. Development costs for the processor used in the PS3 were very, very high, and it will take years of better sales to get that money back. :’( I’ve read that the next-gen Playstation may not even have a drive in it.
Where in the world did you get that? Wii is the worldwide leader, followed by the 360, with the PS3 a distant third.
1. Wii: 20.13 million, as of December 31, 2007
2. Xbox 360: 17.7 million, as of January 3, 2008
3. PlayStation 3: 10.49 million, as of December 31, 2007
thanks texas booster for the ping. :’)
Folding@Home - Updates to F@H Kernal
Folding@home Blog | 02/20/2008 | Vijay Pande
Posted on 02/21/2008 1:40:41 AM EST by texas booster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973800/posts
Bluray?....HD-DVD?....
I'm not sure they have a choice. There might be anti-trust issues involved. Or maybe their math is that they'd rather get the license fees for the benefit of establishing the standard.
Honestly, Sony is not a "game company." That would be like saying that Microsoft is a mouse manufacturer. Every XBox owner with a Blu-Ray drive is someone who will buy Blu-Ray discs of Paramount movies.
I don't remember the rights-holders trying to keep a tight grip on cassette, CD, or DVD licensing, because they're much better off taking the licensing fees for the hardware and for every piece of software sold thereafter.
mp3 is actually “mpeg-2 layer 3”. :’) It’s a compression format that squashes audio files (such as can be “ripped” from CDs) to a fraction (1/8th to 1/10th, or so) of their original size, while sacrificing some fidelity. A single 700 MB CD can hold around 10 hours of audio in mp3 form. Apple’s iPod also can use a lossless compression format which preserves fidelity. DVDs use a different compressed format; the capacity of the DVD is also inherently higher than a CD’s. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD have much higher storage density than DVDs, but use (at least) two different methods of storage (Blu-Ray has a slightly larger capacity) and so are incompatible with each other. I think (no direct experience) that some Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players will *also* play DVDs.
Hope that helps.
Microsoft didn't back the wrong horse as if they were betting at the racetrack, but rather Microsoft and its team of programmers was one of the horses pulling a quickly-faltering and ultimately losing effort.
Sony has had a big name in the movie industry for quite a while. Thoguh Microsoft had a distinct advantage regarding technological hardware and software technology involved in the jump to blue laser and DRM, film and video industry players were far more inclined toward Sony's Weltanshauung when it came to lesser technological issues. Furthermore, seeing Microsoft's Windows Media Center activities, including those dependent players (not to mention a Microsoft VP) openly advocating the ripping of encrypted DVDs and obvious propensities toward building digital libraries of DVDs on hard disk, made rightsholders more than nervous about siding with Toshiba/Microsoft's HD-DVD effort.
In the few months before products were actually introduced, Microsoft looked invincible, touting to industry movers and shakers their camps many advantages. All the while, Sony was playing things close to the vest while looking for openings from the "movie industry" noobs. I believe they saw several.
Micrsoft VP Majidimehr glowingly touted HD-DVD throughout the contiguous forty-eight and on a Caribbean cruise, making it appear HD-DVD had every advantage going for it. But the industry-watchers knew Sony was not asleep at the switch. While some HD-DVD player devices only do 1080i, all BD players do 1080p, which can produce an appreciably better image. (Nonetheless, unpleasantries also lie in wait to ensnare BD buyers. The permutations and complications make even savvy geeks' heads spin.)
Certainly going full speed ahead with the PS3 release despite reportedly losing their "shirts" in the process, I believe was ultimately viewed as both chutzpah and commitment, while it inflated the empirical installed base numbers somewhat fraudulently. (A large proportion of those PS3 users won't be buying lots of BD disks any time soon, but the big numbers look good on paper and have swayed players into their camp, IMHO.)
Ultimately, however, in true Jackson-Sharpton style, Warner and Fox held on to play the part of lynchpins, and were able to extract a reported cool billion dollar "incentive" to come over--exclusively--to the Blu-Ray camp, making the emotional impact cum foreign language gibberish of the Hitler YouTube piece so appropos.
If Sony hadn't been willing to make such an over-the-top deal (thankfully, with their friends) to end the war, they may well have lost, as they are certainly deep enough into red ink to crush all hope among accountants of most lesser companies. IMHO, not losing yet doesn't exactly make them winners. I believe the daunting issues that face them still will not open the floodgates of sales their spreadsheets doubtless depend upon. Furthermore, SONY's bets on (AACS) DRM and reneged managed copy will keep them from being perceived as enlightened, which would otherwise show significant good will to pundits and prospective customers alike.
But Microsoft didn't play this one very well, it's true! Too few heavyweights truly committed to HD-DVD without hedging their bets. Microsoft's betting was only half-hearted, probably seeing what poor return they've had in this area for over a decade. If they'd've bet like Sony, they could perhaps have plied their advantages better. But ultimately, "Content", not technology, "is king!" Amir.
HF
At tradeshows, the HD-DVD team fielded lightweights on the show floors. Even at the most recent CES, where the "Content is king!" question was obvious, the HD-DVD camp was shown to be entirely superficial with its columns of copious HD-DVD boxes gawdily "decorating" many columns throughout the booth. To steal a phrase from the Phantom diva, "Amateurs!"
And a small aside, the HD-DVD menuing and xml goodies were seen to be insignificant eye-candy and largely ineffectual in the battle's outcome, while Majidimehr's perceived arrogance put off many industry decision-makers.
HF
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